Bangkok--17 Feb--Siemens
Asian Green City Index study analyzes the environmental sustainability of 22 major cities in Asia
Singapore is Asia’s greenest metropolis. This is the conclusion of the Asian Green City Index — a study commissioned by Siemens and performed by the independent Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU). For the study, which was carried out over the past few months, the EIU analyzed the aims and achievements of 22 major Asian cities with respect to environmental and climate protection. Singapore stands out in particular for its ambitious environmental targets and its efficient approach to achieving them. In other Asian cities as well, however, environmental awareness and climate protection guidelines are playing an increasingly important role. Unsurprisingly Osaka, Tokyo, Yokohama, Seoul, Taipei, and Hong Kong have above-average overall rankings, while Bangkok ranks average overall in the index similar to Beijing, Delhi, Guangzhou, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Nanjing, Shanghai, and Wuhan. Bangkok’s best performances are in the air quality and environmental governance categories where it ranks above average. “The report’s indicators show how well Bangkok performs in environmental protection and where it stands in terms of being a green city. It will help the relevant authorities further develop a sustainable plan and tackle specific challenges properly”, said Anthony Chay, President and CEO of Siemens Ltd. Thailand. “The Asian Green City Index supports cities in their efforts to expand their infrastructures on a sustainable basis. We want to enable Asia’s up-and-coming urban centers to achieve healthy growth rates coupled with a high quality of life,” said Barbara Kux, member of the Managing Board of Siemens AG and the company’s Chief Sustainability Officer.
The Asian Green City Index examines the environmental performance of 22 major Asian cities in eight categories: energy and CO2, land use and buildings, transport, waste, water, sanitation, air quality and environmental governance. The EIU developed the methodology in cooperation with leading urban experts around the world, including representatives of the OECD, the World Bank and Asia’s regional network of local authorities, CITYNET. “The study of Asian cities shows one thing very clearly: higher income does not necessarily mean higher resource consumption. While resource consumption increases substantially up to an annual gross domestic product (GDP) of about ?15,000 per capita, it drops again when income rises beyond this,” said Jan Friederich, research head of the EIU study. Why? In the prosperous Asian cities, environmental awareness is greater and infrastructures are more efficient. These cities are actively cutting their consumption of natural resources and are thus developing more sustainably. “In addition, cities that performed well in the Index are characterized by their ability to successfully implement environmental projects and consistently enforce regulations,” explained Friederich.
The study’s key findings for the city of Bangkok are:
- Bangkok scores well in the category of environmental governance for having a dedicated environmental department with a wide remit, and for involving residents in environmental decisions.
- It ranks average in energy and CO2 emission. The city produces about 6.7 tonnes of CO2 emissions per head, above the 22- city average of 4.6 tonnes/head. However, it performs pretty well on energy consumption per unit of GDP, which is about 6 megajoules per US$ equivalent to the index average. Transportation accounts for almost 40% of the city’s CO2 emission due to a high rate of car ownership and electricity generation.
- The city performs relatively well in terms of clean energy policies, in particular for a strong energy strategy and waste-energy investments.
- Bangkok ranks below average in the land use and buildings category due to the lack of green spaces (3 square metres per person). However it scores well for publicly promoting ways to improve energy efficiency in buildings.
- The only 0.04 km/km2 of Bangkok’s superior public transport network compared to the average of 0.17 km/km2 of the index average makes the city to be ranked below average in the transport category.
- More than 6 million vehicles being registered in the city, up from around 4.2 million in 1999, reflects residents’ preference to drive to using the public transportation.
- In the waste category Bangkok ranks below average. The city generates 535 kg waste/person, versus the index average of 375 kg/person, and only collects 63% of it comparing to the index average of 83%.
- The below average performance of Thailand’s capital in water reflects the high level of water consumption at 340 liters/person a day, versus the average index of 278 liters. Water system leakages have led the city’s losing of around 35% of water supply, compared to the index average of 22%.
According to the study, Bangkok’s cross-departmental climate change action plan features five initiatives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions: expanding mass transit systems; promoting the use of renewable energy; improving electricity consumption and efficiency in buildings; improving solid waste and wastewater treatment efficiency; and expanding park areas. In addition, the Bangkok governor has taken a leading role in an initiative by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to tackle climate change — the “Cool ASEAN, Green Capitals” project backed by the World Bank.
The progressive rural exodus in Asia is unprecedented in human history. According to the United Nations Population Division, the proportion of Asia’s population living in cities has grown in the last 20 years by around a third to over 40 percent. In the last five years alone, the number of inhabitants in Asian cities has been increasing by about 100,000 a day. And this development will continue in the years to come. In China alone, experts predict that by 2025 there will be well over 200 cities with a population of over a million. Today there are just under 90, while Europe currently has 25.
The increasing urbanization is having an enormous impact on the infrastructure: with the additional number of inhabitants, correspondingly more energy, clean water, transportation and energy-efficient homes are required. The Asian Development Bank estimates that to cope with the influx, the Asian cities must for example build 20,000 new homes and 250 kilometers of road and provide transportation infrastructure and an extra six million liters of drinking water, all on a daily basis. In addition, the cities are the main emitters of harmful greenhouse gases: Cities are the growth engines of the future, but they are also responsible for 75 percent of worldwide energy consumption and for around 80 percent of the human CO2 emissions. “The battle against climate change will be decided in cities. This applies to Asia, with its booming conurbations, more than anywhere else on earth. Only green cities will make life worth living over the long term,” said Barbara Kux.
Bangkok is a good example how fast cities can grow and how the environmental effects of such growth can be. “The spread of urbanization calls for attractive, environmentally-friendly and economical solutions in all fields of metropolitan management in order to ensure competitiveness. Siemens is committed to helping Bangkok to achieve a higher ranking and become one of Asian’s greenest cities in the near future”, added Chay.
With its Environmental Portfolio, Siemens is the ideal partner for sustainable city development, which is based on energy and resource efficiency. The company has the largest and most comprehensive range of green technologies for the environmentally friendly development of infrastructure — from efficient and clean energy generation, transmission and use to public transport and water treatment systems. In fiscal 2010 alone, the company generated revenue of around ?28 billion with its Environmental Portfolio. Some of this came from projects in Asian cities, involving for example the expansion and modernization of their railway networks, urban power supply systems and building automation.
The scope of the Green City Index is unique in the world. Asia is already the third region that has been analyzed for Siemens in this way by the EIU. The series began in 2009 with the European Green City Index, which identified Copenhagen (Denmark) as the greenest metropolis. In 2010 this was followed by the Latin American Green City Index, where Curitiba (Brazil) came out on top. Similar studies are planned for other parts of the world.
Further information and the detailed results of the study can be found here:
www.siemens.com/press/greencityindex.
Siemens AG (Berlin and Munich) is a global powerhouse in electronics and electrical engineering, operating in the industry, energy and healthcare sectors. For over 160 years, Siemens has stood for technological excellence, innovation, quality, reliability and internationality. The company is the world’s largest provider of environmental technologies, generating some ?28 billion — more than one-third of its total revenue — from green products and solutions. In fiscal 2010, which ended on September 30, 2010, revenue totaled ?76 billion and net income ?4.1 billion. At the end of September 2010, Siemens had around 405,000 employees worldwide. Further information is available on the Internet at: www.siemens.com.